1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting terminal structure in which a tool battery (hereinafter termed “a battery pack”) and an electric apparatus are allowed to make a sliding movement relative to each other in a given direction, whereby the battery pack and the electric apparatus are connected with each other, and, further, terminals of the battery pack and those of the electric apparatus are electrically connected to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No, 2001-057204 (Japanese Patent No. 3698296) discloses a relevant connecting terminal structure.
As shown in FIG. 12, in the connecting terminal structure of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No, 2001-057204, a terminal portion of a battery pack 100 and a terminal portion of an electric power tool main body 110 are connected with each other.
The terminal portion of the electric power tool main body 110 is provided with a negative male terminal 111 on the right end side and a positive male terminal 112 provided on the left end side, with a signal male terminal 115 provided between the terminals 111 and 112. The negative male terminal 111 and the positive male terminal 112 are formed in the form of a band plate extending in the direction in which the battery pack 100 slides, and the size of the terminals 111 and 112 are set to have an equal length. The signal male terminal 115 is formed in the form of a band plate parallel to the negative male terminal 111 and the positive male terminal 112, and is set to be shorter than the positive and negative male terminal 111 and 112.
The terminal portion of the battery pack 100 is provided with a two-stage type negative female terminal 101a, 101b on the right end side, and a two-stage type positive female terminal 102a, 102b. And, a one-stage type signal female terminal 105 is provided between the negative female terminal 101a, 101b and the positive female terminal 102a, 102b, at a position corresponding to the signal male terminal 115 of the electric power tool main body 110.
In the above configuration, the battery pack 100 and the electric power tool main body 110 are allowed to make a relative sliding movement relative to each other, whereby the male terminals 111, 112, and 115 of the electric power tool main body 110 are respectively inserted into the female terminals 101a/101b, 102a/102b, and 105, thereby electrically connecting the terminals to each other.
In the above connecting terminal configuration, when, for example, signal male terminals are additionally provided between the negative male terminal 111 and the positive mate terminal 112 of the electric power tool main body 110, there is not enough space for the signal terminals under the present situation, and it is common practice to enlarge the interval between the negative male terminal 111 and the positive male terminal 112. Thus, due to the addition of the signal male terminals, the width dimension, of the terminal portion of the electric power tool main body 110 increases, resulting in an increase in the size of the battery connection portion of the electric power tool main body 110. Similarly, the width dimension of the terminal portion of the battery pack 100 also increases, resulting in an increase in the size of the battery pack 100.
Thus, there is a need in the art to additionally provide terminals without an increase in the width of the battery pack and of the electric apparatus.